Ben + Alex

I’m sitting here in a coffee shop attempting to write about Ben & Alex, and I just don’t know where to start. It's not due to having a lack of things to say, but perhaps due to having too many. I met them serendipitously in Starbucks one day, told them I was a wedding filmmaker, and gave them my card. They left saying they would give my website a look, and to my surprise, it wasn’t twenty minutes later that they returned, informed me they watched my films from the car, and hired me. My Americano tasted especially good that day.

Flash forward to the wedding. Their venue, Warrenwood manor in Danville, Kentucky, is absolutely picturesque. Imagine a historic home and barn surrounded by green pastures and rolling hills. The pics below are just a glimpse, so watch their film to see what I mean.

Their personalities were infused in everything. Alex's cuff links read "Ravenclaw." Their processional song? John Williams’ Jurrasic Park theme song. The recessional? “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie. Dinner? Chicken & waffles, muffins, bacon-wrapped hotdogs, and an assortment of other bite-sized finger foods (made delicious by Cue on Main). It was one of the most beautifully unique weddings I’ve ever been to, and I wouldn’t have expected anything less knowing how Alex proposed to Ben. I think a big shout-out is in order to OkCupid for bringing these two together.

I am also incredibly proud to have been a part of another same-sex wedding. As my first wedding in a state that has received a lot of negative publicity on the matter, I would be remiss not to openly celebrate it. It’s been wonderful to see Ben & Alex and so many others openly acknowledge and affirm their love for one another. As a wedding vendor I get to see the march toward marriage equality on the ground level, and yet despite recent milestones there is still a long way to go: I see couples struggle to find vendors who aren’t ambiguously “unavailable”; I see vendor timelines with zero effort put into making them appropriate for a gay or same-sex wedding (e.g. still showing a “Bride and Groom Entrance”); I see vendors omit pictures and any evidence that they worked a LGBT wedding from their social media pages. Couples shouldn’t fear rejection when they inquire with me or with anyone else and they shouldn’t feel as if they’re treated differently. I hope this can one day become a reality.

To Ben & Alex: I’m confident the future has a lot of wonderful things in store for you both – traveling abroad, discovering new TV shows & board games, and perhaps a couple new Harry Potter books (eeek!). I wish you the most amazing adventures in your new life together as a married couple!